Controlling gas turbine engine blade tip clearance is desirable so as to establish high turbine efficiency. Turbine efficiency improves as the clearance or gap between turbine blade tips and a surrounding static structure is minimized. During transient operations, the blade tips respond to the temperature of the hot working gases at different rates than the static structure. The difference in response results in the transient clearances being “pinched” such that the clearance at the transient time point is tighter than the clearance at steady state operation. In addition, during transient conditions such as during shutdown, the engine casing can thermally distort which results in local “pinching.” Although the casing is less distorted at steady state, the transient distortion effect must be considered when determining proper blade tip clearance. Since the majority of the gas turbine engine running time occurs during steady state operation, allowing clearance for the transient distortion effect results in a performance penalty at steady state.